The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has today published the findings of an independent review that looks at the current provisions to prevent the promotion of racism in schools. While the report recommends an annual review on whether teachers belonging to racist organisations should be banned, it also finds that measures currently in place to protect pupils from racist teachers are sufficient.

The independent review makes six recommendations, which the government has accepted in full:

• Ofsted should flag schools judged inadequate in promoting equal opportunities or community cohesion.
• The impact of the duties to promote equal opportunities and community cohesion should be evaluated by external scrutiny to enable the Secretary of State to keep this issue under active review.
• An independent evaluation of the journey from an 'inadequate' Ofsted judgement, in relation to promotion of equal opportunities and racial equality, to 'good' performance in these areas should be conducted. This could occur at the end of this inspection programme when sufficient evidence is available to enable lessons to be learned for the future.
• The reporting of racist incidents should be monitored for compliance by local authorities and subject to specific inspection and evaluation by Ofsted.
• The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), the GTCE and the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services should share their expertise in establishing and articulating consistent standards and conduct for teachers and school leaders that explicitly promote equality and diversity.
• The secretary of state should keep these matters under active review with annual reporting, and liaise closely with other government departments, particularly those with policy responsibilities affecting children.